MRI Does Not Detect Form Of Brain Damage

Boston University Medical School’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy has been studying the brains of former NFL players that donated their brains for medical research. The Center has now studied the brains of six former NFL players, and five of the six brains studied were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This form of brain damage is exceedingly rare in people who are as young as the five deceased NFL players were when they died. It only shows up in people this young if they have suffered repetitive brain injuries. Significantly, chronic traumatic encephalopathy DOES NOT SHOW UP ON CT SCANS, X-RAYS, OR MRIs! The condition can be confirmed only by post-mortem tissue analysis.